The present invention relates to systems and methods for reselling electronic merchandise such as software, music, video, images, etc.
With the recent explosion in electronic communication, consumers have begun purchasing and receiving merchandise, such as software, music, video, images, etc., electronically without ever receiving a tangible copy of that merchandise. For example, a consumer that desires to purchase a new song by a musical artist may purchase and download an MP3 format copy of that song using a suitable Internet connection to a World Wide Web site, rather than purchasing and receiving a corresponding compact disc.
Unlike merchandise distributed on traditional media, such as records, tapes (e.g., 8 track, cassette, and video), magnetic disks, compact discs, digital video discs, etc., electronic merchandise is extremely vulnerable to damage such as being corrupted, being partially overwritten, being partially erased, etc. Because of this, a purchaser of electronic merchandise may lose valuable property because of a computer “glitch”, virus, or crash.
Unlike merchandise distributed on traditional media, electronic merchandise is extremely easy to duplicate, and therefore difficult to verify as being the original and authorized copy of the merchandise, rather than a second, third, fourth, etc., generation and unauthorized copy of the merchandise. The difficulty in verifying authenticity is especially problematic when providing a resale mechanism for “used” electronic merchandise, or when purchasing “used” electronic merchandise, without running a risk of violating applicable copyright laws.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a service that verifies, repairs, and provides a resale mechanism for electronic merchandise.